Wednesday, 5 July 2017

The famiLEE feud: Lee Hsien Yang responds to Parliament Hearing

Lee Hsien Yang's and Lee Wei Ling's Public Statement

Hsien Loong quarrelled with us on 12 April 2015, the day our father's will was read. He wanted to state before Parliament the next day that our father had changed his mind and that there was no need to demolish the house at 38 Oxley Road. Naturally, we could not agree, as that story was untrue. He was also angry that Wei Ling had an unfettered right to live in the house, He shouted at us and intimidated us. It was the crossing of the Rubicon. He has not spoken to us since.

Shortly thereafter, Hsien Loong wrote to tell us that he had hired a lawyer (Lucien Wong) to deal with the situation, and asked who our lawyers were. We were gobsmacked. We were siblings discussing our father's house. We had to get our own lawyers. Soon, Hsien Loong ceased to communicate with us directly. The first Chinese New Year reunion after our father's death, our brother invited all relatives except us.

We attempted to reach out over the past two years, through various intermediaries. We privately offered a ceasefire shortly after our statement of 14 June 2017. Our attempts at reconciliation were rebuffed. We therefore welcome Hsien Loong's stated desire on 4 July 2017 to manage his disagreement with us in private. We look forward to talking without the involvement of lawyers or government agencies.read more

Lee Hsien Yang's and Lee Wei Ling's Summary of Evidence

Lee Hsien Loong has made many contradictory statements in public and private, including under oath – some must be lies. He seeks to play the filial son in public while acting to thwart our parents' wishes in private through improper means.

Using his position as PM, LHL misled my father into believing LKY's house was either already gazetted or would 'inevitably' be gazetted on his passing.

LKY's final will is a revision to his 2011 will on his explicit instructions. Stamford Law attended to the attestation of the Will at LKY's request.

Alleging that his elder brother Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was the one who “dragged the Government into a personal dispute”, Lee Hsien Yang said today that he and his sister Dr Lee Wei Ling had not intended to criticise the Government by making public their accusations of PM Lee.

“Our private family dispute would have remained a private family dispute, if PM Lee had not used government agencies and a secret ministerial committee to force his way. Sadly, it is Lee Hsien Loong who has dragged the government into a personal dispute,” said Lee Hsien Yang via a Facebook post.

He was responding to Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong’s remarks in Parliament on Tuesday, where he questioned the younger Lee siblings’ motivations for making public allegations about their elder brother. Goh had said: “Are they whistleblowing in a noble effort to save Singapore, or waging a personal vendetta without any care for the damage done to Singapore?”

The government asks of us, “Are they whistleblowing in a noble effort to save Singapore, or waging a personal vendetta without any care for the damage done to Singapore?”
We are not making a criticism of the Government of Singapore, as we made clear from the beginning. What we have said is that we are disturbed by the character, conduct, motives and leadership of our brother, Lee Hsien Loong. Since Lee Kuan Yew’s passing, we have felt threatened by LHL's misuse of his position and influence over the Singapore government and its agencies to drive his personal agenda.

Our private family dispute would have remained a private family dispute, if PM Lee had not used government agencies and a secret ministerial committee to force his way. Sadly, it is Lee Hsien Loong who has dragged the government into a personal dispute.

In Singapore, the PM and his wife should not be above the law. The PM should abide by the same high standards that are expected of even junior civil servants. To show evidence that he has failed to meet these standards, is not to attack the Singapore system, but to preserve it.

Our father’s legacy is more than bricks and mortar. He made sure that all government officials acted with justice and integrity. He accepted nothing less than incorruptibility, especially for the very top. Singapore can yet live up to his legacy.

The brother of Singapore's prime minister Tuesday accused him of lying in parliament about the final wishes of their father, revered founding leader Lee Kuan Yew, the latest instalment of an explosive family feud.

Lee Hsien Yang accused Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 65, of falsely telling parliament Monday that their late father had been open to reconsidering plans to demolish a century-old family bungalow.

The unprecedented row has shocked a tightly-controlled nation unused to divisions among the elite. During a second day of debates in the legislature, the premier said the dispute was "not a soap opera" and called on Singaporeans not to be distracted by it.

The estranged younger brother of Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has accused the premier of misleading their father Lee Kuan Yew into thinking the government had gazetted their family house for preservation as a heritage site

It was only because he believed this to be a fait accompli that the patriarch wavered in his wish to demolish the property upon his death, Lee Hsien Yang said in an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post.

The youngest of the three Lee children was countering his prime minister brother’s contention in parliament hours earlier that their father’s preference for demolition was not “black and white”.

“From 2010, LHL [Lee Hsien Loong] improperly misrepresented to our father LKY [Lee Kuan Yew] that gazetting of 38 Oxley Road was either ‘inevitable’ or that the house was already gazetted,” Lee Hsien Yang told the Post. “We now know that no decision had been made.”

In Monday's speech, the prime minister said that despite a "demolition clause" governing the house in his final will, his father was "prepared to consider alternatives", and had even approved renovation plans should the government decide against tearing down the building.

However Hsien Yang, 60, said that his father had been misled by the prime minister into agreeing to the renovation, with the elder Lee made to believe the house had been listed as a national monument so could not be torn down -- a claim of which the founding leader's lawyer had found no evidence.

The premier told parliament, which is dominated by his ruling People's Action Party, that "I did not deceive my father" but he and his siblings disagreed on whether the elder Lee was ready to consider alternatives for the house.

read moreLee Hsien Yang: Ministerial Committee not transparent nor proper, kept quiet over queries sent on agenda of the committee for months

Mr Lee Hsien Yang has come up with yet another follow up post on the Lee family saga, explaining why the Ministerial Committee formed to deliberate on the government's decision on 38 Oxley Road is not transparent nor proper.

In his post, LHY claims that the primary focus of the ministerial committee is to parrot Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's attack on late Lee Kuan Yew's wish to have the house demolished and PM Lee's attempts to discredit the final will of their father.

LHY also alleges that although the committee had claimed that it was just discussing options for the house, it is only an excuse offered after its operations were exposed.read more

LHY clears air about 38 Oxley Pte Ltd while PAP reasserts Goh’s claim that LHY goal is to dethrone PM

Mr Lee Hsien Yang has cleared the air about 38 Oxley Pte Ltd. A Facebook page some claim is the internet brigade of the People’s Action Party (PAP), was the first to suggest that Mr Lee registered the company to profit from the redevelopment of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s house at 38 Oxley Road. The post is no longer viewable on their Facebook.

Mr Lee said today that bis brother, Lee Hsien Loong, incorporated the holding company for the property at 38 Oxley Road and then sold him the company as part of PM Lee’s settlement with Lee Kuan Yew’s estate. He shared an ACRA bizfile with his post.

Earlier today, Mr Lee’s older sister defended her younger brother against allegations by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made in Parliament that his brother approached him and wanted in on his offer to sell 38 Oxley Road to Dr Lee for $1.00. She reiterated that neither she nor Lee Hsien Yang planned to profit from plans made for 38 Oxley Road.related: Dr Lee defends Hsien Yang against PM Lee’s allegationsread more

Lee Hsien Yang 15 hrs

Some reporters have asked about a company named "38 Oxley Road Pte Ltd". This is a holding company for the property at 38 Oxley Road. Lee Hsien Loong incorporated this company, and then sold me the company as part of his settlement with Lee Kuan Yew's estate.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday (Jul 4) refuted his siblings’ latest accusation that he had misled their late father into believing that the family home at 38 Oxley Road was already gazetted by the Government.

Responding to a question by Member of Parliament (Tampines GRC) Cheng Li Hui, PM Lee said on the 2nd day of a parliamentary debate that it “can never be a private allegation” when they claim that as the Prime Minister, he had deceived their father, the late founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

“It has enormous ramifications for my standing and reputation, and the matter has to be answered,” he said. “The simple answer is that I didn’t deceive my father,” PM Lee added.read more

Pa was never happy with Ho Ching's so-called plans to renovate Oxley. He continued to ponder how he could hv Oxley demolished. As for what the SPH editor think. I observed the email exchange in person. It was my habit to check my email every time I woke up in the middle of the night, so I saw the emails flying fast & furious & I went to Pa's study room. He was distress & eventually got up & walked off to bed looking disturbed. I scolded the SPH Editors via email for distressing Pa & told them to leave Pa alone. If they wanted to see Oxley, I would show them around but they were not to raise this issue w Pa again.

Another episode begins. Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Wei Ling have responded to LHL's Parliamentary rebuttal by saying he made "convoluted, but ultimately false, claims about Lee Kuan Yew's wishes". They accused him of playing with his words in order to show that LKY wanted the house gazetted, when he actually wanted to have it demolished.

The siblings said LKY only accepted plans to renovate the house because LHL misrepresented to him that the house was already gazetted. They believed LKY would not have considered alternatives outside of demolition if LHL had not misrepresented the facts. "Merely because LKY and we accept that the government has power to gazette the house does not mean that this is something LKY wished for. If the children were unable to achieve demolition, LKY made clear he did not want his house open to the public... Leaving instructions for how to deal with a bad event doesn't imply that you accept or desire the bad event".

They insisted that LKY was always skeptical about renovating the house and would have made his views public if he had changed his mind. Furthermore, his "unwavering" wish was also detailed in a settlement agreement which was personally endorsed by LHL. "Is LHL suggesting now that LKY wavered in his unwavering wish?" They continue to blame LHL for threatening them and demanding silence on their father's last wish. "We only seek to honour our parents' wishes. We have nothing to gain other than to honour our parents' wishes".

Dr Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang have returned fire this morning, with a new statement on the Oxley Road saga disputing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s account of events relating to talk on the demolition of 38 Oxley Road.

Releasing supporting documents, they also alleged that PM Lee misled their father Lee Kuan Yew into believing that the Government had already gazetted the house for preservation as a heritage site and that the Prime Minister tried to “play with words” on the issue in Parliament.

The siblings are countering allegations that the Prime Minister made in a 5-hour parliamentary sitting yesterday that Lee Kuan Yew’s decision on demolishing their family home was not “black and white”.

Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang said on Tuesday (4 July) that their older brother and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has made “convoluted but ultimately false” claims about their late father’s wishes for the 38 Oxley Road house.

In their first joint response following PM Lee’s Ministerial Statement on the family feud in Parliament on Monday (3 July), Wei Ling and Hsien Yang said – in a joint response posted on both their Facebook pages – that PM Lee is suggesting that because their father Lee Kuan Yew signed some renovation plans in early 2012, he was open to preservation of the house.

“From 2010, LHL improperly misrepresented to our father LKY that gazetting of 38 Oxley Road was either ‘inevitable’ or that the house was already gazetted. We now know that no decision has been made,” the siblings said. Besides “improper representation and conflicts of interest” on the part of PM Lee, it shows the late Lee’s “considerations” of “alternatives” to demolition were “entirely due” to their brother’s representations about the house’s fate, they added.

A DAY after Lee Hsien Loong (LHL) made his ministerial statement in Parliament, his siblings alleged on Tuesday that Singapore's Prime Minister has made misrepresentations to his father, the late Lee Kuan Yew (LKY), & family that gazetting the family home at 38 Oxley Road was either "inevitable" or that the house was already gazetted.

"Because of LHL's misrepresentations to his father and family, in Sep 2012 LKY believed that the government had already gazetted the house," Lee Hsien Yang & Lee Wei Ling wrote in a Facebook post.

They insisted that just because their father left instructions for what to do if the house was gazetted, it did not mean he accepted that the house should be gazetted.